December Vegetable Gardening To Do List
- Continue to check the soil moisture of your winter vegetable garden regularly and water well, particularly before an expected freeze
- Regularly air out and vent the cold frame or low tunnel on sunny days
- Increase heat inside season extenders, as necessary, using artificial lights and/or water to insulate plants and regulate temperatures
- Harvest winter crops more slowly
- Do not prune cold-damaged plants
- Start planning for next year’s garden…
Now is the Time to End Your Gardening Year
Some herbs can be grown in pots inside during the winter, including chives, mint, fennel, lemon balm, lovage, parsley, rosemary, savory, and thyme. Sow seeds in pots with rich, well-drained, and sterilized potting mix. Cover the pots with plastic bags or clear wrap until germination occurs. Put the pots in a warm room, in a sunny, southern window and keep the soil moist. Installing supplementary lighting and providing periodic fertilizer, as well as monitoring for pests and diseases, is also necessary. These articles provide additional information:
- A Complete Guide to Growing Herbs Indoors, the most recent article by MGNV’s houseplant columnist EMG Evin Morrison
- Gardening Under Lights, EMG Susan Wilhelm’s review of Gardening Under Lights—The Complete Guide for Indoor Growers, by Leslie F. Halleck.
As the holidays approach, it’s a good time to reflect on how you might want to expand your gardening efforts next year: Consider starting seedlings indoors, shifting the mix of plants you grow, expanding your composting efforts to include worm composting or a composting bin, building season extensions for year-round gardening, or getting additional tools and equipment. As the year comes to a close, assess what worked and what didn’t work this growing season in your vegetable garden. Consider which crops and/or varieties did well and what did not do well, and make changes to next year’s garden plan.
Gardening Gifts
A great gift idea is a gardening journal—a place where you can record your successes and frustrations from year to year (rather than relying on memory alone). It will become a useful resource for you when you purchase seeds or transplants and design future gardens based on past experiences. Check out these articles on starting your own gardening journal for some great ideas:
- Consider a Garden Journal by John E. Woodmansee, Purdue University, 2025
- Garden Journaling by Aaron Steil, Iowa State University, 2025
- Grow with Your Garden: How to Start a Garden Journal by Kaleena Davis, University of Florida, 2025
- Keeping a Garden Journal by Susan Marquesen, Penn State Extension, 2023
And these virtual classes by EMG Mary Jennings provide all sorts of guidance for garden journaling:
- The Art of the Garden Journal, 2024
- Botanical Journaling, 2025
MGNV has also put together several guides to help you choose the perfect gifts for the gardeners in your life.
- Houseplant Gift Guide, 2024
- Gardening Tools and Books: Perfect Gifts for Gardeners, 2024
- Holiday Gift Guide: Children’s Picture Books on Gardening, Nature, & the Environment, 2022
- Gift Books for Gardeners 2021
- Holiday Gift Shopping, 2019
Between the Rows becomes Urban Agriculture Events and Resources in 2026.
The posts will publish around the second week of the month. See you in the new year!